The Truckers Domain

Tag: how to

  • How to Document Heavy-Haul Accessorials So They Get Paid

    How to Document Heavy-Haul Accessorials So They Get Paid

    The crane is already running

    Picture this. You are two hours out from a paper-mill delivery in Georgia. The load is a 95-ton press section sitting on a 13-axle Schnabel. The receiving site has a 275-ton crawler crane on the pad with a four-person rigging crew, a signal person, and a millwright supervisor. That crane and crew, fully burdened, costs the shipper around $18,000 for the day. The lift window opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. because a state DOT permit restricts crane swings near a power line after 4 p.m.

    You are running late. Not because you did anything wrong. A weigh station kicked you over to a re-route, and your pilot car ran into a parade in a small town that the permit office did not flag. You will be on site at 1 p.m. instead of 10 a.m.

    There are two versions of this story.

    In version one, you call the broker at 6 a.m. when the re-route gets posted. You give them the new ETA. The broker calls the project manager at the mill. The PM tells the crane company to push the lift to 1 p.m. and bills a half-day standby instead of a full-day. The crew goes to a coffee shop. Everyone adjusts. The lift happens at 1:15. You roll out at 4. The mill’s project budget takes a $4,000 hit instead of an $18,000 hit. The broker calls you the next week with another move.

    In version two, you do not call. You roll up at 1 p.m. The crane company has burned the day waiting. The lift window is now closed because the curfew kicked in. The crane crew goes home. You sit in the yard overnight. The mill bills the broker for the full $18,000 of lost crane time. The broker asks who is paying for that. Nobody in the chain has it written down anywhere. The argument that follows costs you the relationship and probably costs the broker their relationship with the shipper.

    Same load. Same delay. Same truck. The only difference between the two versions is one phone call at 6 a.m.

    That is what this article is about.

    You are not alone in the truck

    When you take a heavy-haul load, you are one input variable in a project that has six or seven other vendors, each with their own clock running. Most truckers do not see those other clocks. They see the broker calling them four times a day and assume the broker is micromanaging.

    The broker is not micromanaging. The broker is trying to keep a project on schedule that has people and equipment costing thousands of dollars an hour parked at the destination. Sometimes the broker is annoying about it. Sometimes the broker has not communicated their reasoning well. The intent is almost always the same. The broker is pulling the same lever you are. They want the load delivered on time, on budget, and without anyone getting hurt or surprised.

    Here is who is on the clock when you take a typical heavy-haul move:

    • The shipper’s project manager, who is being measured on whether the install hits its date
    • The broker or 3PL, who has put their margin on the line by quoting a price to the shipper
    • The crane company at destination, with a crew, a crane, and often a sub-contracted rigger
    • The receiving plant’s millwrights or installers, who cannot start until the piece is set
    • The state permit offices in every state you cross, each of which can revoke or modify a permit mid-trip
    • Your pilot car drivers, who are billing by the day and the mile
    • The end customer, who is sometimes paying penalty clauses if the project slips

    Your truck, your driver, and your trailer are the most visible link in that chain. You are also the one piece that physically moves and therefore the one piece most likely to surface a problem first. When the weather changes, when a permit gets pulled, when an axle issue shows up at a chicken coop scale, when a road construction zone has narrowed an overpass, the trucker sees it before anyone else does.

    That is your job. The freight moving from A to B is roughly 30% of what the broker actually bought from you. The other 70% is your ability to be the early-warning system for the rest of the project. A trucker who does that well makes the broker look good to their customer. A broker who looks good to their customer dispatches you again. That is how a 1-truck operation becomes a 5-truck operation.

    It is also why the rest of this article matters. Every line item below is something that goes wrong on heavy-haul moves. Every one of them costs money. The question is who pays, and the only good time to answer that question is before the truck rolls.

    Why “we’ll work it out at delivery” never actually works

    After a load delivers, the math changes. The broker has been paid by the shipper, or is about to be, on the agreed price. Any accessorial charge you add after the fact comes out of the broker’s margin, not the shipper’s pocket. The broker now has a financial reason to push back on every line item.

    That is not because brokers are bad people. That is because the shipper signed a quote with a number on it, and the shipper is going to argue any cost overrun line by line. The broker is the one defending each line. If the line was not on the rate confirmation, the broker has nothing to defend it with.

    This is why pre-load is the only good time to nail down accessorials. Pre-load, the broker has the same incentive as you. They want the rate confirmation to cover them too. They are happy to write down “crane standby billed at $250 per hour after 30 minutes wait” because that protects them as much as it protects you. After delivery, the same broker will fight that line because it is now coming out of their pocket.

    A good rate confirmation is not a contract. It is a list of agreements that nobody in this chain has to argue about later.

    The accessorials map

    What follows is the inventory of charges that come up on US heavy-haul and over-dimension moves. Some of them apply to almost every load. Some apply only to specific configurations or specific trailers. The point is not that all of them belong on every rate confirmation. The point is that you and the broker should walk through the list together, before dispatch, and decide which ones apply, what the rates are, and who carries them.

    If a line item below is not on your rate confirmation, you are agreeing to eat that cost if it shows up. That is a deliberate choice you are allowed to make. The mistake is making that choice without realizing you made it.

    Permits and routing

    State oversize and overweight permits are the obvious ones. Most are billed at cost, but some carriers mark them up to cover the staff time pulling them. Either is fine; both need to be agreed to in writing.

    Less obvious are the ones that surprise new heavy-haul carriers:

    • Superload bond requirements in states like Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi
    • Bridge engineering review fees when a route crosses a structure with weight restrictions
    • Route survey or pre-trip survey fees, especially for over-dimension moves through urban areas
    • Re-permit fees when a state changes your route after the original permit was issued
    • Permit office expedite or after-hours pickup fees
    • Curfew waivers for night-only travel and the cost of waiver applications
    • Holiday and weekend movement restrictions and the fees to lift them
    • Toll pass-through, which on heavy-haul axle counts can run 5 to 10 times standard truck rates

    Re-permit fees are worth a moment. A state can issue a permit, you can roll, and three states later the original state can pull or modify the permit because of a construction project that came up. The cost of the new permit, the lost time sitting, and the out-of-route mileage to the new path all have to land somewhere. If your rate confirmation says “permits billed at cost, including amendments and re-issuance,” they land on the broker. If it says “permits at cost” only, you may end up arguing about whether an amendment is a new permit or a continuation. Spell it out.

    For a deeper walk through state-by-state permitting, see the DOT and FMCSA compliance hub and the heavy-haul resource page.

    Pilot cars, escorts, and police

    Pilot car rates vary by state and by the certifications the state requires. New York, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and Washington all have specific pilot car certification rules; rates in those states run higher than uncertified pilot cars elsewhere. Police escorts are mandatory above certain dimensions in many states and are billed by the hour or by the trip, often with a minimum.

    The line items that should be on the rate confirmation:

    • Front pilot car day rate
    • Rear pilot car day rate
    • High-pole car when overheight
    • Steerable dolly operator
    • State or local police escort
    • Pilot car standby and wait time
    • Pilot car deadhead to origin and return from final
    • Pilot car overnight (hotel and per diem on multi-day moves)
    • Multi-state pilot swaps where one pilot drops at a state line and a new one picks up

    The single biggest source of pilot car billing disputes is overnight and standby time. A pilot car that arrives at origin the night before pickup is billing for that night. A pilot car that sits in a yard for two days because the load got rescheduled is billing for those two days. Make sure both are addressed in writing.

    Equipment and trailer configuration

    Heavy-haul trailers are not a flat commodity. An RGN, a double-drop, an extendable, a Schnabel, and a multi-axle perimeter trailer are different equipment with different day rates and different setup costs. Detachable goosenecks, jeep dollies, booster axles, stinger setups, and spreader bars all add weight ratings and reduce capacity for downstream brokers. Carriers should have a published surcharge for each of these configurations.

    Securement gear (chains, binders, tarps, dunnage, V-troughs, coil racks) gets handled in two ways across the industry. Some carriers price it into the line haul. Some bill specific items above a baseline count. Whichever you do, write it down, and keep your baseline reasonable for the trailer you quoted.

    Tarps are their own conversation. A smoke tarp, a lumber tarp, a steel tarp, and a coil tarp are different products at different prices. If the rate confirmation says “tarp included” without specifying which one, you and the shipper may have very different ideas about what is included.

    For the detail on each securement type, the equipment surcharges that the major carriers publish, and a starter checklist of what to verify before pickup, see the load securement and safety page.

    Loading and unloading

    This is where the big dollars live, and it is the section that matters most.

    A crane company at destination is billing the shipper or the receiving facility for crane time. The hourly cost of a crane is the rental rate plus the operator plus the rigging crew plus the support equipment, and it varies wildly by crane size. A 50-ton hydraulic crane with a two-person crew runs roughly $4,000 to $7,000 per day all-in. A 100-ton hydraulic with a larger crew runs roughly $8,000 to $12,000. A 250- to 300-ton crawler with a full rigging crew, a signal person, and counterweight assist trucks can run $18,000 to $30,000 per day. A 500-ton-plus crawler with a multi-day rig assembly can run higher than $50,000 per day before the lift even starts.

    Those numbers are the “if it sits all day, this is what was lost” math. The shipper is not going to absorb that cost without finding someone to absorb it back. If the truck is the reason the crane sat, the shipper is going to chase the broker, the broker is going to chase the carrier, and the carrier is going to discover whether the rate confirmation said anything about who pays when.

    The accessorials worth pre-agreeing on for crane and rigging:

    • Crane time at origin if loading is delayed by the shipper
    • Crane time at destination if the truck is on time but the lift is not ready
    • Crane standby and hold rates when the crane is staged but cannot lift (weather, permit issue, site issue)
    • Re-rigging fees if the load shifted in transit and the planned destination rigging will not work
    • Counterweight reconfiguration if site access differs from the plan
    • Re-pick or re-set fees if the first placement is rejected by the millwright or the project engineer
    • Forklift refusal at destination, where the forklift on site is not rated for the piece (this is more common than people expect, and the cost of bringing in a larger forklift on the spot is not small)
    • Site labor billed directly to the carrier (millwrights, signal persons, riggers when subcontracted)

    The way these get pre-agreed in a rate confirmation is not by listing every dollar. The way is by writing a sentence like:

    Crane and rigging delays caused by carrier (late arrival without 4-hour notice, equipment failure, driver hours exhaustion at destination) are billed to carrier at the documented site rate. Crane and rigging delays caused by site, shipper, weather, or permit issues are billed to broker at the documented site rate, with a 30-minute standby grace.

    That single paragraph, agreed to before dispatch, ends 90% of the post-delivery arguments. Both sides know what they own.

    For the deeper material on crane standby documentation, photo evidence, and the actual paperwork that backs up a billed delay, see the heavy-haul resource page and the detention documentation form.

    Detention, layover, and exception time

    The detention conversation in heavy-haul is different from dry van. The free time at a heavy-haul shipper is often longer (4 to 6 hours is common because rigging takes time), but the hourly rate after free time is also higher because the truck and trailer being detained are higher-value equipment that cannot easily be turned to another load.

    What should be on the rate confirmation:

    • Detention free time at shipper, hourly rate after, daily cap
    • Detention free time at consignee, hourly rate after, daily cap (often a different rate from shipper)
    • Truck Order Not Used (TONU) percentage of line haul if the load cancels after dispatch
    • Layover rate for each 24 hours beyond the first night, including driver hotel and per diem
    • After-hours or weekend appointment surcharges
    • Pre-load inspection wait time when the shipper requires you to be staged early
    • Weather-hold rate when the carrier is parked under shipper instruction (not driver discretion)

    The layover and weather-hold lines matter especially in heavy-haul because permits often have curfew restrictions that force a multi-day move even at short distances. A 600-mile haul that crosses three curfew states can easily turn into a four-day move. If the rate confirmation only addresses the line haul and not the layover days, the carrier eats four days of driver pay, fuel, and fixed costs.

    A starter detention documentation form is at /resources/detention-form/. It is built for general freight and works fine for heavy-haul with the addition of crane and rigging fields.

    Route and travel exceptions

    These are the costs that show up because of the world, not because of the load:

    • Out-of-route miles when a state forces a detour after the permit was issued
    • Mountain pass and chain law equipment costs in winter
    • Fuel surcharge methodology and the index it is tied to (DOE national, regional, fixed)
    • Empty deadhead to pickup
    • Empty repositioning after delivery
    • Mileage to and from permit offices when in-person pickup is required
    • Bridge bypass mileage when a permit excludes specific structures

    Fuel surcharge gets its own moment because heavy-haul moves often involve heavy spec tractors that burn 30 to 50% more fuel per mile than a standard tractor under the same conditions. A flat fuel surcharge based on a national average can put the carrier in the hole on a heavy-haul move even when fuel is otherwise stable. Either tie the surcharge to the actual fuel consumed or use a heavy-haul-specific multiplier.

    Service and document charges

    These are the line items that are easy to forget because they look small until they aren’t:

    • Quick-pay fees (typically 1 to 3% of the invoice)
    • Wire transfer fees on rush payments
    • Cargo insurance riders for value above the standard $100,000 cargo limit
    • Excess liability riders on critical or high-consequence loads (utility transformers, vessels, reactor components)
    • Hazmat papers and placarding when the move involves hazmat that was not in the original quote

    The cargo insurance one is worth noting. A standard motor carrier cargo policy maxes out at $100,000 unless you bought a higher limit. Heavy-haul pieces routinely run $500,000 to several million in declared value. The rider for a single load can run $400 to $2,500 depending on the value and the route. That cost has to be either bought into the rate or billed as a separate line item. Carriers who quote a heavy-haul move on a $100,000 cargo policy and a $1.5 million transformer are exposing themselves to a claim they cannot cover.

    Failure, change, and exception charges

    When something goes sideways, who carries the cost has to be agreed in advance:

    • Reconsignment when the load is redirected to a different destination en route
    • Re-delivery when the destination refuses the load and a second attempt is needed
    • Storage or yard fee if the destination site is not ready
    • Demurrage on rail-tied or port-tied moves
    • Cancellation by stage (pre-load cancel, en-route cancel, on-site cancel) at different rates
    • Cleaning or decontamination fees when applicable
    • Permit cancellation fees if the load is killed after permits were pulled

    Cancellation is the one new carriers under-charge most often. Pulling a multi-state permit for a heavy-haul move can cost $1,500 to $4,000 in fees alone, plus dispatcher time, plus pilot car booking deposits, plus a hold on the truck. If the load gets killed the day before pickup, all of that is gone. A cancellation clause that bands by stage protects you. “Cancellation more than 48 hours before pickup: $250. Within 48 hours: actual permit costs plus $500. After dispatch: full line haul plus accessorials incurred.” That is fair, and brokers will sign it because they understand the underlying costs.

    Coordination and project management

    On multi-truck moves, on critical-piece moves, and on moves that involve customer engineering or third-party route surveys, there is real labor in the coordination itself. New carriers tend to give that labor away. Established heavy-haul carriers bill for it.

    The line items:

    • Project management or load coordinator fee on multi-truck moves
    • Conference call and project meeting time when the customer requires it
    • Engineering review (bridge formula, height clearance, swing radius)
    • Third-party route surveys
    • Site survey at origin or destination before dispatch
    • Photo and documentation pass-through when the customer requires timestamped evidence

    These are not always large dollars on a single move, but on critical projects they can add 5 to 10% to the total cost, and that 5 to 10% is the difference between a profitable run and a marginal one.

    The pre-load conversation that changes the math

    Now you have the inventory. The next question is what to do with it.

    Build a default accessorial schedule for your operation. Pick the line items that come up most often on your typical moves and put them in a one-page document with your standard rates and your standard language. When a broker sends you a rate confirmation, compare their rate confirmation against your schedule. Anywhere they are silent on a line item that matters for this load, push back and add the language. Anywhere their rate is below yours, push back or accept the lower rate as a deliberate decision.

    Keep the conversation about the schedule, not about you. “Our standard rate confirmation includes crane standby grace and after-hours layover. Can we add those lines?” is a different conversation from “Are you going to pay me if I sit?” The first sounds like operational discipline. The second sounds like an argument. Brokers respond differently.

    Also, accept that not every line will get added. A broker may push back on a few items. That is fine. The point is not to win every line. The point is that the load is dispatched with a written agreement on every line that matters, and nobody is surprised at delivery.

    For a starter rate confirmation language pack, see the working with brokers resource.

    The communication cadence that protects the schedule

    The rate confirmation is half the discipline. The other half is the cadence of communication during the run.

    A communication cadence that works on most heavy-haul moves looks like this:

    • 24 hours before pickup: confirm pickup time, equipment, permits in hand, pilot cars confirmed
    • Day of pickup: confirm loaded and rolling, with photos of the load
    • Daily during the run: end-of-day position, miles tomorrow, any permit or weather concerns
    • Day before delivery: confirm ETA window to broker, broker confirms crane and crew status to you
    • Morning of delivery: hourly position updates as you approach
    • During delivery: real-time updates if anything slips, especially if a slip is more than 30 minutes
    • Post-delivery: confirm offload complete, photos, any accessorials that were incurred

    That is more contact than most brokers expect. That is the point. A broker who hears from you on this cadence is a broker who is not going to call you four times asking for an update, because you already gave them the update. That is the trucker who gets the next dispatch. That is the trucker who builds a heavy-haul book of business that compounds.

    When something does slip, the rule is simple. Call the broker the moment you know. Not when you are sure. Not when you have a fix. The moment you know there might be a problem. Early warning gives the broker, the project manager, and the crane company time to adjust. Late warning costs everyone money. Carriers who call early get forgiven for slips. Carriers who call late get replaced.

    What to do this week

    Three things, in order of how soon they pay off:

    1. Build your default accessorial schedule. Take the inventory above, mark which items apply to your typical moves, fill in your rates, and turn it into a one-page document. Keep it in your dispatch packet. Send it to every broker you work with regularly.

    2. Write a one-page communication SOP for your drivers. Pickup confirm. End-of-day check-in. ETA windows day-before delivery. Real-time updates when something slips. Post-delivery photos. Hand it to your drivers. Train it.

    3. Pull your last five rate confirmations. Read them line by line against the inventory above. Mark every line that should have been there and was not. Use those gaps to update your default schedule.

    The trucker who does these three things this week will not see results on the next load. They will see results on the load after that, and the one after that, and especially on the load six months from now where something goes sideways and the rate confirmation tells everybody what happens next without an argument.

    That is the wedge. Trucking runs on handshakes when it should run on paperwork. Heavy-haul is the part of trucking where the handshake costs the most.

    Get the Heavy-Haul Detention and Crane Standby Documentation Form (free). A one-page form to capture wait times, crane standby, and accessorial events with photo timestamps and broker contact fields. Download the form.

    More on the heavy-haul:

  • Drayage Charges Decoded: How to Read Any Port Invoice and Spot the Errors

    Drayage Charges Decoded: How to Read Any Port Invoice and Spot the Errors

    The invoice that taught me to write things down

    A new carrier picks up a 40′ import box at Long Beach. Three weeks later the broker forwards the settlement statement with twelve line items the carrier has never seen. Per-diem $480. Demurrage $720. Chassis split $125. CTF $20. TMF $77.56. Tri-axle $150. VACIS $325. Reefer plug $310 (on a dry box). The broker shrugs. “Yeah, that one got hit.”

    The carrier is staring at $1,800 in surprises on a load that paid $850 net. About half of that bill is wrong. The other half could have been priced into the rate confirmation.

    This article gives you the framework to know which is which at any US port, no matter how the local rules differ. Drayage charges look like one number on a quote and explode into a dozen on the invoice. The reason is that no two ports run the same playbook. The fix is not memorizing every fee at every terminal. It is a portable documentation method that works the same way in Long Beach, Newark, Houston, or Savannah.

    The mental model: four clocks, four owners

    Every loaded import container has four meters running on it from the moment it discharges, and they belong to four different parties. New carriers blow up rate sheets because they think there is one “demurrage clock.” There are four.

    Clock Who owns it Starts when Free time
    Demurrage The marine terminal (the port) Container is available for pickup (“last free day” / LFD) 3 to 7 calendar days, varies by terminal
    Per-diem The ocean carrier (steamship line) Container leaves the terminal gate 3 to 5 calendar days typical
    Chassis usage The chassis IEP (DCLI, TRAC, FlexiVan, regional pool) Chassis pulled from the pool 0 to 1 day, then daily
    Detention The motor carrier (you) Truck arrives at shipper or consignee Usually 2 hours free at the stop

    Two rules to write on the visor:

    1. Demurrage and per-diem cannot run on the same day on the same container. The moment your truck pulls the box out of the terminal gate, demurrage stops and per-diem starts. If you see both billed for the same calendar day, it is an invoice error.
    2. Chassis usage runs on its own clock parallel to per-diem. Chassis stops when you return the chassis to the pool, not when you return the container.

    Those two rules alone protect you from about a third of bad invoices.

    What you owe vs what the BCO owes

    Most port charges default to the Beneficial Cargo Owner (BCO), the importer of record. They become your problem only when you swallowed them by quoting “all-in” without exclusions. Default ownership map:

    Charge Default biller Trucker exposure
    Demurrage BCO Only if quoted all-in
    Per-diem BCO Only if quoted all-in
    Chassis day rate Trucker Yes, you own it
    Detention at the dock Trucker bills broker You own the wait if not contracted
    TMF / CTF BCO Pass-through
    Customs exam fees BCO Pass-through; your drayage to CES is yours
    Sustained Import Dwell (Houston) BCO direct Not your bill, but flag it
    Reefer plug at terminal BCO Pass-through

    Half of the audit work is just keeping the BCO charges from being silently bundled into your rate. The broker is not going to do that work for you.

    The base move

    Even the cleanest drayage invoice has five line items before any accessorial:

    1. Linehaul. Per mile on long lanes. Flat by zone on short city lanes. Houston to Dallas runs by mile. LA to Carson runs by zone.
    2. Fuel surcharge. Indexed against the EIA weekly diesel average, published Monday at 5 PM Eastern. Formula is (current diesel price minus baseline) divided by your assumed MPG. Most drays add 15 to 25 percent on top of linehaul.
    3. Chassis day rate. $25 to $45 per day from whichever IEP serves that terminal.
    4. Terminal handling and lift fee. The crane fee at the port. Roughly $280 to $345 per standard container lift on the Pacific coast.
    5. Port surcharges. TMF and CTF in LA / Long Beach. Nothing standing in most other ports.

    Anything past those five is an accessorial. Accessorials are where the money goes sideways.

    The six accessorial families

    Stop trying to memorize 40 fee names. Group them by what triggered them. At quote time, run the move through the six families and ask whether you are exposed.

    1. Time-based

    The four clocks above, plus terminal storage, off-terminal yard storage, layover, and the new wave of port-imposed dwell fees. Houston launched a Sustained Import Dwell Fee in January 2026 that hits the BCO directly starting day 8 past LFD. About $45 per day for a dry, $51.60 to $150+ per day tiered for a reefer. That sits on top of the carrier’s per-diem clock and the steamship line’s demurrage. Three different parties charging for the same overstayed box.

    Range to expect on demurrage when it does fall on you:

    • Tier 1 (days 1 to 5 past LFD): $150 to $300 per day
    • Tier 2 (days 6 to 10): $300 to $500 per day
    • Tier 3 (11+ days): $500 to $800+ per day

    Per-diem from the steamship lines tracks similar shape. Maersk pushed nationwide rates up January 1, 2026 ($10 across all tiers on dry containers, $40 on operating reefers in Newark, $20 on Newark dry tiers). The trend is up.

    2. Equipment-type

    Charges that exist only because of what is in the box or what kind of box it is.

    Overweight. Federal GVW limit is 80,000 lbs. Cross that and you need a state permit before the wheels turn. Drayage carriers commonly add an overweight surcharge of about $250 plus pass through the permit cost.

    Tri-axle chassis. A 20′ container with more than 36,000 lbs of cargo or a 40′ with more than 44,000 lbs needs a tri-axle. The third axle spreads the weight across more contact points and lets you legally haul up to about 43,000 lbs of cargo on a 20′. Adds roughly $150 per day to the chassis rate. Standard call for steel coils, paper rolls, stone, dense food product.

    Reefer plug-in and monitoring. While the reefer sits at the terminal it has to be plugged into shore power and someone has to log temperature checks on a schedule. The fee for that ranges from $5 to $125 per day depending on the terminal. Total Terminals International in LA charges $123.54 per unit per day. Jacksonville Port Authority charges $66.49 per plug per day. Same service. Florida is half the price.

    Genset. When the box is on the road and away from shore power, a genset (clip-on or underslung on the chassis) provides the cooling. Daily rental from a genset pool. Underslung is the common drayage configuration.

    Hazmat. Driver needs CDL-H endorsement (renews every five years), TWIC, and hazmat training. Documentation must include UN number, hazard class, packing group, total quantity, SDS for Class 1 through 8, and a 24-hour emergency response phone number. Placards on all four sides of the trailer must match the shipping papers exactly. A mismatch is a federal violation, not a paperwork mistake. Drayage carriers commonly add about $150 per hazmat move on top of base.

    ISO tank. Tanker endorsement plus hazmat. Higher center of gravity. Liquid surge under braking. Specialized tank chassis (often in shortage). If you are not already running tanks, do not take a one-off ISO tank load to chase a rate.

    Open top container. Standard chassis. The fee bump is small, mostly for tarping and the slightly slower lift. Watch for cargo extending above the rails. That triggers OOG handling.

    Flat rack. 20′ or 40′. Built for cargo that will not fit a closed container in width or height. Lifted on and off by crane (LoLo). If your cargo stays inside an 8′ wide by 13’6″ total height envelope, it drays as a normal load. Cross either dimension and you are in oversize permit territory. That is heavy-haul work, not standard drayage. See Heavy-Haul Accessorials for that side of the work.

    Breakbulk. Pieces handled individually, not in a container. Stevedoring on the vessel side runs $5,000 to $10,000 per lift, billed to the BCO. The trucker side requires a flatbed or step-deck, not an intermodal chassis. Treat as heavy-haul, not drayage.

    45′ high cube. Right at California’s 14′ height limit. Single-trip Caltrans permit is $16 (valid 7 days). Annual is $90. Drayage providers commonly charge a premium of about $200 over a standard 40′ move, partly because the 45′ chassis is harder to find in most pools.

    3. Routing and movement

    Chassis split. The container is at one terminal, the chassis is at a different pool location. You drive extra to fetch the chassis, then back to the terminal, then to delivery, then return both to two more locations. $25 to $125 per occurrence. Houston runs $75 to $125. The fee can hit you twice if chassis returns to a separate depot from the container.

    Chassis flip. Container is on a chassis already, but you have to swap it onto a different one (the first is damaged, or the receiving pool requires its own equipment). Done at the terminal. Smaller fee than a split, same family.

    Pre-pull. Container pulled from the terminal early, parked at your secured yard, delivered the next day. About $150 plus chassis day rate plus storage (around $50 per day). Often cheaper than a single day of demurrage. The math: if LFD is tomorrow and your appointment is the day after, pre-pull avoids one tier-1 demurrage day at $150 to $300 and you spend $200 to $250 on the pre-pull instead. The 10 minutes you spend doing that math at quote time is the difference between a profitable load and a flat one.

    Dry run. Driver dispatched, cannot get the box. Missed appointment. Gate down. IT outage at the terminal. Paperwork wrong. TWIC expired. $150 to $300 per occurrence. TWIC enforcement is automatic. A driver without a valid TWIC is denied entry, no warnings.

    Bobtail. Truck moving without a chassis. Up to 100% of the drayage rate per published schedules. Translation: you bill the move as if you ran it loaded, because you committed the asset and lost the day.

    Stop-off. First additional stop $75 plus $2 per mile. Subsequent stops $125 plus $2 per mile.

    Tolls. Pass-through, billed at cost.

    4. Compliance and regulatory

    VACIS exam. X-ray scan, container does not move. $300 to $400 typical, range $100 to $600. Adds 1 to 2 days. Demurrage continues to accrue during the hold.

    Tail Gate exam. Officer opens the back doors at the terminal, may cut into boxes near the door. $350 to $500. Adds 2 to 4 days. Seal broken and replaced.

    Intensive exam (CET). Container drayed to a Centralized Examination Station, fully unloaded, contents inspected, reloaded, returned. Exam fee alone is $1,500 to $3,500. Hidden costs stack on top: drayage to and from the CES ($300 to $600), CES storage ($50 to $150 per day), and the port demurrage clock keeps running the entire time. NY and LA are most expensive because of union labor at the CES. Total bill on a 40′ commonly $2,000 to $3,000 plus the demurrage tail.

    USDA and FDA holds. Same cost neighborhood as CET when they trigger a CES move. Sometimes resolved at the terminal.

    In-bond. Container moves between two US points without clearing customs. T&E (transportation and exportation, headed for export) or IT (immediate transportation, headed for inland clearance). Bonded carrier required. Bond filing fees $50 to $150.

    Oversize permit. California single-trip $16, annual $90. Other states higher and route-specific.

    Escort. CHP escort in California for over-height (typically over 14′) or over-width (typically over 11′). Private pilot car other states. Insurance for oversize loads commonly runs $200 to $500 per trip.

    5. Port and terminal-specific

    LA and Long Beach: PierPass TMF. $38.78 per TEU, $77.56 per non-TEU container as of August 2025. Adjusts every August 1. Funds night and weekend gate hours plus the appointment system.

    LA and Long Beach: Clean Truck Fund Rate. $10 per TEU, $20 per non-TEU container. In effect since April 2022. Zero-emission trucks exempt. Low-NOx trucks registered before December 2022 exempt through December 2027. TMF and CTF stack. A 40′ import through LA pays $77.56 + $20 = $97.56 in port-imposed fees before any other accessorial.

    NY and NJ. No TMF equivalent. The PANYNJ rule is emissions-based: trucks must meet model year 2014 federal standards or be alt-fuel/hybrid. No per-container fee, just a gate eligibility requirement. PNCT and APMT each publish their own terminal tariff.

    Houston. Sustained Import Dwell Fee from January 2026, $45 per day dry from day 8, $51.60+ tiered for reefer. Billed to the BCO. Tri-axle around $150 per day on heavy boxes is the normal call here.

    Savannah and Charleston. Free time generally 4 to 7 days. Hazmat handlers limited at Savannah; not all dray carriers are licensed for the placard work. Charleston average dwell is 4.2 days at Wando Welch and 5.1 days at North Charleston, so free time gets eaten fast even on a clean move.

    Norfolk and Oakland. Often excluded from broker-imposed congestion surcharges. The C.H. Robinson $175 per container surcharge during the 2021 wave skipped both. Spot drayage rates in Norfolk run $2.54 to $2.83 per mile, lower than the West Coast.

    Seattle and Tacoma (NWSA). Tariff No. 300 governs. SSA Marine added a $300+ surcharge for container overstays of 15 days or more.

    Episodic congestion surcharges. Brokers add these per move when terminals fall behind. Not standing fees. Watch the rate confirmation language for “subject to surcharge” and ask what the trigger is.

    6. Administrative

    Document fees, EDI billing fees, factor base fees (1 to 3 percent off the top if you factor), broker handling fees, after-hours and weekend gate premiums. Each one is small. Together they take 5 to 10 percent off the bottom of a move if you let them slide.

    The portable form

    Every port has different rules. The form below stays the same. Fill it out once per move and the post-move audit takes ten minutes instead of an hour of arguing.

    DRAYAGE MOVE RECORD

PRE-MOVE (at rate confirmation)
  Container #: _________________   Size/type: _____   Hazmat class: ____
  Gross wt (lbs): ________   Tare: ________   Cargo wt: ________
  Discharge port + terminal: ________________________
  Vessel + voyage: ________________________
  LFD (terminal demurrage): _____________  At $______/day after
  Per-diem free days (line: __________): _____  At $______/day after
  Chassis source: [ ] customer's  [ ] IEP pool: __________  Day rate: $______
  Delivery address: _________________________
  Receiver hours: ___________  Appointment: [ ] yes [ ] no  Window: _______
  Empty return location: ______________  Same as discharge? [ ] y [ ] n
  Quoted accessorial caps:
    Chassis split: $______  Pre-pull: $______
    Detention: ___ hrs free, $______/hr after
    Other: ______________________________________

DURING MOVE (driver writes the times)
  Outgate timestamp: ____________   (per-diem starts)
  Chassis #: _________  Pull timestamp: ____________
  Arrival at consignee: ____________
  Departure from consignee: ____________   (detention clock)
  Empty return timestamp: ____________   (per-diem stops)
  Empty return terminal: ______________
  Chassis return timestamp: ____________  Return location: ______________
                                          (chassis fee stops)
  Exam notice received? [ ] none [ ] VACIS [ ] MET [ ] CET   Date: __________

POST-MOVE INVOICE AUDIT (check off each)
  [ ] Demurrage and per-diem do not overlap on any day
  [ ] Chassis fee stops at chassis return timestamp
  [ ] No reefer plug or monitoring on a dry box
  [ ] TMF / CTF only on applicable container size and trip type
  [ ] Tri-axle only if cargo crossed weight threshold
  [ ] Fuel surcharge matches DOE/EIA week corresponding to move date
  [ ] Detention only counted from end of free window forward
  [ ] Exam fee tier matches actual exam type
  [ ] Charges that belong to the BCO are not in your line items

    Print it. Tape it to the dispatch board. Or build it into your TMS as a required-fields page on the dispatch screen. The point is one form, every port, every move.

    What to dispute on every invoice

    Run this checklist when the broker invoice hits your inbox. Every item is a frequent error in the wild:

    1. Demurrage and per-diem billed for the same calendar day. Mathematically impossible. One stops the moment the other starts.
    2. Chassis fee continuing past your documented chassis return timestamp.
    3. Reefer plug or monitoring on a dry container.
    4. TMF or CTF charged on an exempt move (empty container, in-transit, zero-emission truck).
    5. Tri-axle surcharge on a container that did not cross the weight threshold.
    6. Fuel surcharge calculated off the wrong week’s DOE/EIA index. The price published Monday at 5 PM Eastern applies Wednesday through the following Tuesday.
    7. Detention started before the free window expired.
    8. Exam fee tier wrong (Intensive billed when the actual notice was VACIS).
    9. Charges that belong to the BCO billed to you because the rate confirmation said “all-in” without exclusions.

    You will not win every dispute. You will win enough to pay for the time you spent on the form.

    When to walk away from the load

    Some loads expose you to charges you cannot price. Decision rule:

    • Consignee has no appointment system and the terminal restricts same-day return. You own per-diem you cannot control.
    • Chassis pool serving that terminal is in shortage. Split-fee risk is unbounded.
    • Reefer load and the consignee has no plug-in capacity. You own genset rental and monitoring fees the broker may dispute later.
    • OOG or flat rack cargo and the broker has not pulled the route permit. You eat the permit cost or the layover.

    Generalist version of this decision is in The Load You Should NOT Take. Drayage adds one rule to the standard list: if you cannot identify which counterparty owns each clock on the move, do not take it.

    What to put in your rate confirmation

    The fix for “the broker swallowed me on accessorials” is to put caps and pass-throughs in writing before the wheels turn. The rate confirmation should specify:

    • Linehaul rate and fuel surcharge formula (or the FSC index source)
    • Chassis day rate cap and which IEP pool
    • Free detention hours and per-hour rate after
    • Pre-pull authorization (yes/no) and the rate if yes
    • Chassis split rate, with a cap if pool location is uncertain
    • Pass-through items: tolls, port surcharges (TMF, CTF), exam fees, permits
    • BCO-owned charges that are explicitly excluded from your rate

    A standard format makes this fast. The broker-carrier rate confirmation template in W-003 builds this directly into the doc.

    Bottom line

    Drayage looks like one fee until you start documenting the move. Then it looks like four clocks, six accessorial families, and a port-specific layer on top. The carriers that survive their first year of port work are the ones who fill out the same form on every move and audit every invoice against it. The dollar amounts will shift. The structure will not.

    If you want the form above as a printable PDF plus a per-port reference card and an invoice-audit checklist with worked examples, that is what the upcoming Drayage Documentation Kit packages.

    Internal links

    Voice notes (working)

    • Lead remained the four-clocks table, per the wedge structural insight.
    • Real charge names used throughout. No euphemisms.
    • Numbers throughout. Where ranges vary by port, two real ports named.
    • Distinguished trucker-owed vs BCO-owed charges explicitly, twice.
    • Walk-away rule connects to A-005, not duplicated.
    • Real invoice example placeholders left in the lead so Ryan can swap in the actual dollar lines from his files when ready.

    Research appendix

    Source-stocked 2026-05-09. Numbers are 2026 ranges from public sources and vary by carrier, terminal, and chassis pool. Authoritative numbers are the carrier tariff, terminal tariff, and IEP rate sheet in force on the move date.

    A. Charge taxonomy

    Time-based

    Demurrage (terminal/port). Charged by the marine terminal on import containers that overstay free time before pickup. Free time runs 3 to 7 calendar days at most US terminals. Rail terminals often only 48 hours. Typical 2026 tier structure: Tier 1 (days 1-5 past LFD) ~$150-$300 per container per day, Tier 2 (days 6-10) ~$300-$500 per day, Tier 3 (11+ days) $500-$800+ per day. Billed to the BCO. Carrier inherits if quoted “all-in.”

    Per-diem (ocean carrier). Charged by the steamship line for use of their container beyond free time once it leaves the terminal. 3 to 5 free days typical. Maersk update effective 2026-01-01: Newark all tiers +$20 (dry, NOR, SOC, tanks) and +$40 operating reefers. Miami and Port Everglades Tier 1 +$20. Philadelphia all tiers +$20. Dry/NOR/special equipment all tiers +$10 nationally. Free days unchanged. MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen, COSCO, OOCL each publish their own per-diem tariff.

    Chassis usage. $25 to $45 per day typical 2026 daily rate from the IEP. DCLI passes through any toll/citation administration as a $5 per incident surcharge. Rate clock starts at chassis pull from pool, stops at chassis return, not container return.

    Detention (motor carrier at customer dock). Driver waiting at shipper or consignee beyond free window (usually 2 hours). Range varies wildly. Published carrier rate cards show $75 to $150 per hour. One Atlanta source quoted $1,000 per hour as a punitive ceiling. Carrier-billed.

    Layover. Driver held overnight. ~$300 per occurrence typical.

    Terminal storage / off-terminal yard storage. ~$50 per day at the dray carrier’s secured yard.

    Sustained Import Dwell Fee, Houston. Effective Jan 2026, Port Houston bills BCO directly starting day 8 past LFD. Dry: ~$45 per container per day. Reefer: tiered from $51.60 per day escalating past $150 per day.

    Container Excess Dwell Fee, LA/LB. Threatened in 2021 ($100 per container per day, escalating), never permanently activated. Structure exists in the LA/LB tariff and could resurface during a future congestion event.

    Equipment-type

    Overweight container. Federal GVW limit 80,000 lbs. Single axle 20,000. Tandem 34,000. Containers exceeding 80,000 GVW require a state oversize/overweight permit. ~$250 per occurrence overweight surcharge typical from carrier. Permit costs vary by state.

    Tri-axle chassis. Required for 20′ containers >36,000 lbs cargo or 40′ containers >44,000 lbs cargo. Allows up to ~43,000 lbs cargo on a 20′ container legally. Surcharge ~$150 per day on top of chassis rental. Houston source confirms ~$150 per day for tri-axle on heavy containers. Standard for steel, paper, stone.

    4-axle tractor + tri-axle chassis. Required for 100,000+ GVW. LA/LB I-710 corridor permits 97,000-105,500 lb GVW under permit on the designated heavy-haul route.

    Reefer. Plug-in/monitoring fee while at terminal: Total Terminals International (LA) charges $123.54 per unit per day. Jacksonville Port Authority charges $66.49 per plug per day. Range across terminals ~$5 to $125 per day, with the higher end including active monitoring (temperature checks logged on schedule). Genset rental when away from shore power: budgeted ~1-2 days for loading + drayage.

    Genset. Two configurations: clip-on (mounted on side of container) or underslung (mounted to chassis). Underslung is the common drayage configuration. Daily rental from genset pools.

    Hazmat. ~$150 per occurrence drayage surcharge. Driver requirements: CDL-H endorsement (5-year renewal), TWIC, hazmat training. Documentation: proper shipping name, UN number, hazard class/division, packing group, total quantity, SDS for Class 1-8, 24-hour emergency response phone. Placards on all four sides of trailer/chassis must match papers; mismatch is a federal violation. Lithium batteries (Class 9, UN 3480/3481) require state-of-charge ≤30% for large batteries.

    ISO tank. Specialized tank chassis (less common, periodic shortages). Driver needs tanker endorsement plus hazmat. Higher center of gravity, different handling.

    Open top container. 20′ or 40′. For cargo too tall for a closed container, tarped. Standard chassis. Lift fees often slightly higher than dry containers due to tarping/inspection. No standard public surcharge schedule, quoted per move.

    Flat rack (20′ or 40′). For OOG cargo. Cargo lashed to deck with strapping. Loaded by lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) at terminal. If cargo footprint stays within 8′ wide and ~13’6″ total height with cargo, drays as standard. If overwidth or overheight: oversize permit territory, ties into heavy-haul accessorials.

    Breakbulk. Non-containerized cargo handled piece by piece. Stevedoring fees $5,000 to $10,000 per lift (vessel-side, billed to BCO). Drayage typically requires flatbed or step-deck, not intermodal chassis. Heavy-haul rules.

    45′ high cube. California height limit 14′. 45′ HC near or over that. Single-trip Caltrans permit $16 (7 days). Annual $90. Drayage premium common (~$200 over standard 40′).

    Routing and movement

    Chassis split. Chassis pool location different from container pickup terminal. ~$25 to $125 per occurrence. Houston quotes $75 to $125. May apply twice if chassis returns to a separate depot.

    Chassis flip. Container is on a chassis but must be transferred to another (damaged chassis, pool-specific chassis required). Done at terminal. Fee usually less than a split.

    Pre-pull. Container pulled from terminal early to avoid LFD problem, parked at trucker’s yard. ~$150 per occurrence + chassis day rate + storage. Often cheaper than a single day of demurrage.

    Dry run / wasted trip. Driver dispatched, can’t get container. ~$150 to $300 typical. TWIC enforcement: driver entering restricted port area without TWIC is denied entry, automatic dry run.

    Bobtail. Truck running without trailer/chassis. Up to 100% of drayage rate per Atlanta source.

    Stop-off. First stop ~$75 + $2 per mile. Subsequent stops ~$125 + $2 per mile.

    Tolls. Pass-through, route-dependent.

    Compliance and regulatory

    VACIS exam (X-ray, NII). Non-intrusive. ~$300 to $400 (range $100 to $600). 1-2 day delay. Demurrage continues during hold.

    MET / Tail Gate exam. Officer opens rear doors at terminal, may cut into boxes near door. ~$350 to $500. 2-4 day delay. Seal broken and replaced.

    CET / Intensive exam (Stuffing exam). Container moved to CES, fully unloaded, contents inspected, reloaded, returned. $1,500 to $3,500+ exam fee. Hidden costs: drayage to/from CES $300 to $600, daily storage at CES $50 to $150 per day, port demurrage continues to accrue. NY and LA most expensive due to union labor. Total bill commonly $2,000 to $3,000 for a 40′.

    USDA / FDA hold. Same range as CET when triggering a CES move.

    In-bond move (T&E or IT bond). Container moves between two US points without clearing customs. Bonded carrier required. Adds documentation fees and bond filing costs (~$50 to $150 typical filing).

    Oversize / overweight permit. State by state. California single-trip $16 (7 days), annual $90. Other states higher and route-specific.

    Escort. Required for over-height (>14′ typical) or over-width (>11′ typical) loads. CHP escort in California, private pilot car other states.

    Port and terminal-specific

    PierPass TMF (LA/LB). $38.78 per TEU, $77.56 per non-TEU container as of Aug 2025. Adjusted annually each August.

    Clean Truck Fund Rate (LA/LB). $10 per TEU, $20 per non-TEU container. Effective April 2022. Zero-emission trucks exempt; low-NOx trucks registered before Dec 2022 exempt through Dec 2027.

    NY/NJ Clean Truck requirement (PANYNJ). Drayage trucks must meet/exceed model year 2014 federal emissions standard. Alt-fuel and hybrid exempt. No published per-container fee.

    Congestion surcharges. Carrier-imposed when terminals add wait time. C.H. Robinson example: $175 per container at major US ports during congestion events. Norfolk and Oakland excluded in that round.

    DCLI / chassis pool admin pass-throughs. $5 per incident toll/citation administration on DCLI chassis usage.

    Missed appointment / no-show. Most California ports use mandatory appointments. Missing or no-show triggers rebooking fee + dry-run risk.

    Administrative

    Document/billing fees, factor base fees (1 to 3% off top if factoring), broker handling/surge fees, after-hours/weekend gate premiums.

    B. Equipment-type matrix

    Type Chassis required Type-specific charges Common gotchas
    20′ standard Standard 20′ or combo Tri-axle if >36k cargo Tri-axle pool may be different IEP, split risk
    40′ standard Standard 40′ Tri-axle if >44k cargo Same
    40′ HC Standard 40′ Same as 40′ standard Height usually under 13’6″, legal on most routes
    45′ HC 45′ chassis (less common) ~$200 premium per move; Caltrans permit if >14′ Chassis availability, pool may force a split
    20′ reefer Reefer chassis (often combo) Plug-in $5-$125 per day at terminal; genset on road; monitoring fee Plug request must be made at gate-in or container thaws
    40′ reefer Reefer chassis Same Same; reefer Sustained-Dwell tier in Houston steeper
    20′ open top Standard or specialty Tarping, slight lift premium Inspection delays if cargo extends above rails
    40′ open top Standard or specialty Same Same
    20′ flat rack Standard chassis LoLo handling at terminal; OOG surcharge if cargo overhangs Permit territory if width or height exceeded
    40′ flat rack Standard chassis Same Common for over-length pipe and machinery
    ISO tank Tank chassis Tank chassis day rate higher; hazmat almost always Tanker + hazmat endorsements; surge handling
    Breakbulk Flatbed / step-deck Stevedoring $5k-$10k per lift (BCO); per-piece securement Not standard drayage, heavy-haul rules apply

    C. Port matrix

    Port Free time (terminal) Per-diem free days Chassis pool(s) Port-specific Gotchas
    LA / Long Beach 4-5 days typical (POLB confirmed 4) 5 days typical (Maersk) Pool of Pools (DCLI, TRAC, FlexiVan) TMF $38.78 TEU / $77.56 over; CTF $10 TEU / $20 over I-710 overweight corridor; appointments mandatory
    NY / NJ (PANYNJ) 4-5 days typical 4-5 days typical TRAC Metro Pool (~17k chassis), DCLI MY2014 emissions requirement; PNCT/APMT each have own tariff Cross-harbor splits common
    Houston 7 days typical 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC Sustained Import Dwell from day 8 (~$45 dry, $51.60+ reefer) Tri-axle ~$150/day; Jacintoport / Barbours Cut accessorials vary
    Savannah 4-7 days 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC Strict hazmat protocols Hazmat handlers limited
    Charleston 4-5 days; avg dwell 4.2 / 5.1 days 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC Standard Shorter free time eats fast
    Norfolk 4-5 days 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC None unique Lower spot rates ($2.54-$2.83/mile); often excluded from broker congestion surcharges
    Oakland 4-7 days; avg dwell 5.7 days 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC None unique vs LA Often excluded from broker congestion surcharges; appointments required
    Seattle / Tacoma (NWSA) 4-7 days 4-5 days DCLI / TRAC SSA Marine $300+ overstay surcharge for 15+ day boxes Tariff No. 300 governs

    D. Sources

    Primary structural references:

    • Maersk 2026 detention/demurrage tariff update (effective 2026-01-01)
    • PierPass TMF rate schedules (Aug 2025 increase to $38.78/TEU)
    • Port of Long Beach / Port of Los Angeles CTF rate ($10/TEU, $20 per non-TEU)
    • Port Houston Tariff 15 (Jan 2025) and Sustained Import Dwell Fee announcement (Jan 2026)
    • Northwest Seaport Alliance Tariff No. 300
    • DCLI Daily Market Rates
    • TRAC Intermodal Marine Chassis Pools

    Secondary research (range data and accessorial taxonomy):

    • Port City Logistics, 2026 Drayage Rates Guide
    • All Points Atlanta, Drayage Accessorial Charges (specific dollar table)
    • More Than Shipping, Container drayage additional charges
    • DrayDex, Accessorial charges glossary
    • GoArmstrong, Drayage rates guide
    • SeafreightGo, US Customs Exam Types 2026
    • Precision Inc, Customs Hold / Hazmat / Overweight Long Beach guides
    • Royal Cold Storage, Reefer plug-in fees at port
    • Total Terminals International tariff (reefer monitoring $123.54)
    • Jacksonville Port Authority (reefer electrical $66.49)
    • Heavy Weight Transport / Evans Delivery (tri-axle chassis specs)
    • Atlantic Project Cargo / Hansatic (OOG, flat rack, open top)
    • Caltrans (California oversize permits)
    • C.H. Robinson, drayage congestion surcharge announcement
    • Land Line Media, SoCal CTF coverage
    • FreightWaves, LA/LB CTF approval; Seattle/Tacoma dwell surcharge
    • Supply Chain Dive, Houston dwell fee approval
    • Gnosis Freight, Port Houston import dwell fee announcement
    • TSA, TWIC fee ($125.25 / $93 reduced)

    Numbers in this appendix are 2026 ranges from public sources. Authoritative numbers for any given move are the carrier tariff, terminal tariff, and IEP rate sheet in force on the move date. Build the article around the documentation method, not the dollar amounts. The dollars will move.